Infant feeding device



` lized in accordance with modern sanitation and Patented Oct. 26, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE'.

Application October 13,

12 Claims.

The present invention relates to an improved infant feeding device comprising a container and a nipple, with means for securing the parts in t assembled relation as required for use.

The open end of the unstretched nipple is of suiiicient diameter to fit over the outer diameter of the open end of the container, whereby the nipple may with facility be assembled upon the container, stretching of the former being unnecessary.

Means is provided to maintain a leak-proof union of the nipple and container, secure from accidental dislodgement of the parts.

The parts may with facility be assembled or disassembled in a minimum of time with very slight effort.

The parts are devoid of inaccessible recesses, whereby they may readily be cleansed and sterigood taste.

The invention may be adapted to various types of containers and for use with different foods of various nature.

The invention resides in certain novel structures and the combination and arrangement of the parts as will hereinafter be more fully set` forth and distinctly claimed. It will be u'nderstood that the invention is not restricted to the exact structures herein illustrated and described, but that modifications may be made in the disclosed structures without departing from the principle of the invention and the intent of the claims. Preferred examples of the physical embodiment of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, showing the invention.

Figure 2, shows the disengaged parts, arranged in the order of assembly.

'Ihe conventional practice of stretching the nipple over the bottle or other container, is rather inconvenient and sometimes requires more strength than frail ngers possess. When the nipple fits sufficiently tight to assure firm attachment, assembly is diilcult. When assembly is easy, the nipple is liable to be accidentally dislodged by the efforts of the infant, with the disadvantages consequent thereto.

The present invention provides a simple and practical means for firmly attaching the nipple to the container.

As seen in Figures l and 2, the nipple B, is provided with an annular skirt 2 of sufficient diameter to t over the mouth 9 of the container C, when the former is unstretched, and it willbe 1934, Serial No. 748,209

readilyapparent that these parts may be positioned with ease. v

The friction collar I0 is adapted to t snugly over the skirt 2 vand can also be positioned with ease. 'I'he skirt 2 is offset leaving a narrow ledge 3, and the friction collar I0 is provided with an internal flange III which engages said ledge 3. The friction collar Ill is preferably of thin material, say thin sheet metal and the lower edge thereof is provided with one or more lugs as shown at I2, each lug is `adapted to engage a notch I3 on the exterior of the container, whereby the friction collar I0 is held in fixed relation with the container C and the nipple B.

The retaining collar I4 is adapted to t over the friction collar I0 with slight clearance, whereby the retaining collar I4 may beturned upon the friction collar I0, with ease. The retaining collar I4, is provided with engaging means I5, and the container C is provided with complementary engaging: means I1, whereby a screw action is employed to secure the retaining collar I4 to the container C.

The retaining collar I4 is provided'with an interna] flange I6, adapted to seat against the flange II of the friction collar Ill which is held against turning as previously described. It will be readily apparent that the retaining collar I4 may be employed to securely clamp the nipple B to the container C, unaccompanied by distortion of the skirt 2 and other portions of the nipple B which are necessarily of pliable material, usually rubber. In this manner a leak-proof union of the parts is assured and it will be readily apparent that the parts can not be dislodged by the efforts of the infant,E as will sometimes occur with various prior art nipples.

The described parts are instantly separable for the purpose of cleansing and sterilization, i and can with facility be quickly assembled with minimum effort.

The drawing illustrates the preferred construction of the nipple and container, where it will be seen in Fig. 2, that the mouth of the container is formed by a plain cylindrical portion 9 of lessor diameter than the container, thereby forming a ledge or shoulder 9a. The thread I1 is formed immediately below the shoulder 9a and the groove or notch I3 extends downwardly from this shoulder and may interrupt the thread I1 as shown, so as to assure that the lug I2 will not escape from the notch I3. As shown in Fig. 2, the skirt 2 and the offset at 3, should be of proper dimensions to correspond with the cylindrical mouth 9, so that the lower edge ofthe skirt 2 will seat upon the ledge 9a when the internal offset at 3 seats upon the plane portion of the cylindrical mouth as shown in Fig. 1, where it will be seen that the skirt of the nipple is confined in the restricted area between the container and the friction collar I0 which acts as a ferrule for the skirt. From this description it will be readily understood that the screw action of the collar I4 will not only bind the oifset 3 to the container but will also crowd theskirt portion 2 .and cause it to completely and tightly ll the space between the friction coll-ar I0 and the container. This function assures a leak proof union and a secure assembly without extreme tightness of the screw collar I4 and eliminates the necessity of vigorous eort to cinch up the screw collar. It will be seen that the oifset skirt formsxan angleover the edge and the periphery of the lmouth of the container and that this angular union is far more lockedwit-h'the container, it'precludes destructive abrasion of the nipple by either the screw collar I4 or the mouth of thev'container, Vthus 30' assuring that the contents will not be contamiinside of the nipple and the container. l

The prior art rpresents various devices kindred tothe vpresern: invention whichvisdesigned to eliminate the inaptitudes of the prior art structures, thereby providing a commercially practicalv device possessed of a sanitary construction of the parts and capable of secure assembly with minimum effort.- y

'The threaded engagement shown, is for the convenience of illustration and any other `commercially practical means may be employed, and it will of course be understood that the improved rholding means as described, may be interchangeably employed with various nipples of diilerent shapes. H u

As seen in Figure 1',the bell cover E, frictionally engages the retaining collar I4, thereby effectively enclosing the nipple. This provision is of vided with Aathr'eaded constriction I8 engagedl with the exterior` of the thread I5 of the retaining collar, I4, whereby the container is excludedI from external contact.V The air confined n in the void V affords aneffective thermal insulation an'd materially aids in maintainingl the tem- 4 perature of the nurse, as is important in the case of new born, premature born and incubator infants. In any instance where thev feedings are necessarily administered 'in an atmosphere below ner, then covered with the bell cover E which will effectively preclude contamination, whereby the assembly will be complete when the feeding' time arrives.

In the present invention, I claim: l

1. An infant feeding device, comprising a container having an unbeaded cylindrical mouth, a

nipple having an oifset skirt of sufiicientdiadapted to engage in grooves on said container;

la retainingv collar adapted to t over said fric- -tion collar with'slight clearance, said retaining collar having an internal flange adapted to seat against the iange of 'said friction collar, means .upon said retaining collar engaging with means upon said container, whereby the described parts may be securely assembled as 'a unit ina 'leak proof manner; e ',1 f

2. In an infant feeding device, the combina-l tion with a nipple and a container, of ya friction collar adapted as a ferru'lefor the Aengaging portionv of said 4nipple'means foren'ga'gngsaid collar wi'th 'said containerusecure against relative rotation, whereby screw meansmaybe ern-'v ploye'd to secure the parts in assembled position unattended. by distortion of saidnipple. v i.

3. The combination in an inia'n't'feeding device.

including anippleand a container, of1a cylin-fv dricai collar having an internal flange, lugs projecting vinthe plane of saidfcylindrical portion and adapted to engage with recesses in said container.

4. In Van'infant feeding device, the"combina.. tion with a nipple,`of a container having anun-- beaded' cylindrical mouth, a'n vexternal,shoulder,l on said `cylindrical mouth, recesses in.said,"si'ion'l-n der portion, said. nipplebeing adapted to ven-f.. gage said cylindrical mouth and adapted t'ojseat.

against said shoulder and the plane portionof said mouth,- a. friction ferrule adapted. to seat. against anv external shoulder on said nipple and engagewith the recesses aforesaid, a retaining-Q collar 'adapted tomsjeat against. said ferrule,.`

threadedmeans upon said retaining collar and upon said container wherebythe parts may be` secured in assembled position, leakpro'ofiat the juncture'.

5. In an infant feeding device, a containe1 .,ia k

closure for said container, a collar threaded upon' f said container' and securing saidclosure thereto,l

a casing threaded upon said collarand enclosing said container in a confined air chamber.

6. An infant feeding device comprisingmacon tainer, a nipple iitted upon said icontai'nerQa retaining collar threaded upon said containerand securing said nipple thereto, `a casing threaded upon'said retaining collar and forming a .con-`vr fined air chamber about said container`, and,a

cover cap frictionaliyengaged with `'said retaining collar, thereby'enclos'ing saidnipple.

`f7. man infant feeding device, a container ,hav-` ing a cylindrical mouth, a larger .cylindricalpoI-` tion therebelow with recesses therein and threadof Ithe mouth of said ,container when` assembled thereon, a friction collar. adaptedI to t oversaid skirt and havingan internal flange adapted to seat upon the external shoulder formed by the offset of said skirt, said collar having lugs adapted to engage said recesses, and a retaining collar adapted to seat upon said flange and engage said threaded means.

8. An infant feeding device comprising a threaded container, a nipple, a retaining collar having internal and external threads on the lower portion thereof and a plain cylindrical upper portion, said collar engaging said container and securing said nipple thereto, a cover cap frictionally engaged with the plain cylindrical portion of said collar, and a casing threaded upon said collar and enclosing said container in a confined air chamber.

9. An infant feeding device comprising a container having a cylindrical mouth, a nipple encompassing the outer periphery of said cylindrical mouth and seating upon the circumferential edge of said cylindrical mouth, an internally flanged ferrule fitted over the engaging portions of said nipple and interlocked with said container, a retaining collar seating upon said ferrule and engaging With said container to hold the parts in assembled relation.

l0. An infant feeding device comprising a container having an open end, a closure encompassing the outer surface of said open end and seating upon the edge of said open end, an internally flanged ferrule fitted over the engaging portions of said closure and interlocked with said container, a retaining collar seating upon said ferrule and engaging with said container to hold the parts in assembled relation.

11. In an infant feeding device comprising a nipple secured to a container by a threaded co1- lar, a friction member disposed between said nipple and threaded collar, said friction member engaging with said container in interlocked relation secure against relative rotation.

12. An infant feeding device, comprising a nipple having a peripheral skirt portion depending therefrom and connected thereto by a. ledge portion, a container having a mouth portion adaptedto t within the skirt portion of said nipple, the terminal end of the walls of said mouth portion adapted to seat against the inside of the ledge portion of said nipple, the skirt portion of said nipple and the walls ofthe mouth portion of said container being longitudinally straight, the inner diameter of said skirt portion being the same as the outer diameter of the walls of said mouth portion, a retaining collar fitting over the skirt portion of said nipple, an internal flange on said collar and adapted to contact the exterior of the ledge portion of said nipple, cooperating means upon said collar and said container for engaging them together and compressing the ledge portion of Said nipple tightly against the terminal end of the WallaT of said mouth portion of the container.

BRIDGET D. CONDON. 

